During the night, a strong wind turned the bottom into dry land. Then, at God’s command, Moses split the sea in two. But read Chapter 14 to see how the Bible describes the event.įirst, God’s angel put a dark cloud between the Egyptians and the Israelites. We know what happened next because it has been dramatized in movies and TV series. They caught up with them at the Red Sea (or, perhaps, the Sea of Reeds). This time he sent his army-horses, chariots and charioteers-after the Israelites. Pharaoh, suddenly realizing that all those slaves were leaving, again changed his mind. They had grown from the 70 people who arrived in Egypt 430 years earlier.īut they weren’t safe yet. The Bible says that the Israelites comprised about 600,000 men, not counting children-plus numerous flocks and herds. The Egyptian people gave them silver, gold and clothing, and rushed them out before they could even prepare food for the journey. When the Egyptians discovered all of their eldest children dead, Pharaoh not only permitted the Israelites to leave, he chased them out. This year Passover begins at sunset on April 14. The Israelites were instructed to keep that day as a memorial feast and a perpetual institution, which they do. This passage, from Chapter 12, is read in Catholic churches worldwide during liturgies on Good Friday. Seeing the blood, he said, he would “pass over” (Ex 12:13) that house while he was killing the Egyptians. Prior to the 10th plague, the killing of the first-born, the Lord had Moses instruct the people how they were to prepare the Passover feast and then mark the doorposts of their homes with blood from a lamb.

While the Egyptians suffered those plagues, the Israelites did not. The 10 plagues were: the Nile River and other water supplies turned into blood frogs covering the land gnats infesting humans and animals swarms of flies everywhere a severe pestilence that killed livestock boils that afflicted the people a hailstorm with lightning that killed all people and animals in the open and destroyed every growing thing locusts that devoured whatever the hail hadn’t destroyed darkness that covered the land for three days and the death of every first-born person or beast. But each time, except the last, he reneged on his promise. Before each one, Moses and his brother Aaron told Pharaoh that the plague would occur, and each time Pharaoh promised to release the Israelites if the plague was lifted. Fink Old Testament: Moses leads the Israelites out of EgyptĬhapters 7 to 12 of the Book of Exodus tell about the 10 plagues that God sent upon the Egyptians to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt.

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